SPARKS, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — The city of Sparks is seeking a new Nevada law that would authorize transportation authorities to build Nevada’s first toll road – a 13-mile-long connection between Spanish Springs and the Tahoe-Reno industrial area.
City Council members on Monday unanimously approved a 2025 bill that would amend state law and allow RTC to build a toll road from La Posada Drive to the USA Parkway.
The project, estimated to cost around $500 million, is intended to relieve congestion on the Interstate 80 corridor, which is currently the only major connection to the massive industrial park in Storey County.
Tolls, which are common in many states for certain roads and bridges, are generally not allowed in Nevada. For this reason, the city of Sparks has requested a change in the law.
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Mayor Ed Lawson, a big supporter of regional projects like the federal lands bill and the USA Parkway connection, told News 4-Fox 11 that the road is necessary.
“It’s a quality of life issue for the employees who work at (TRIC). I talk to Panasonic and Tesla and some other companies out there. They’re losing employees because they’re stuck on I-80 for hours,” he said.
“If you notice a guardrail or something falling on I-80, traffic backs up. If you have an accident, traffic backs up.”
It makes sense to have an alternate route back here from Storey County. 80% of the people who work there live with us in Reno and Sparks.
He said that unlike most road projects that rely on federal and state tax dollars, this project could be funded by a small fee that road users would have to pay to travel the 21-kilometer stretch.
The exact route has not yet been determined and the amount of the toll is also unclear at this early stage, Lawson said.
It was supposed to be the first toll road in the Silver State. Southern Nevada politicians proposed and passed a bill in 2011 that would allow tolls to be collected on the Boulder City Bypass project. However, the project was ultimately financed differently.
The connector road would cut commute time in half for Spanish Springs residents, Lawson said, citing a study by the city of Sparks that found 25 tons of carbon emissions would be saved if 10,000 cars traveled the road daily.
During a brief discussion during the regular meeting on Monday, council members supported the concept in principle and passed the item unanimously.
The measure will be drafted by the Legislature Office and introduced in the 2025 legislative session. If passed, Lawson hopes to begin work on it within the next five years.
WATCH the meeting here:
Email reporter Ben Margiott at [email protected]. Follow @BenMargiott to X and Ben Margiott KRNV on Facebook.
